Hamilton says FSU slipping with loss to Wake

FSU coach and Gastonia native Leonard Hamilton lowers his head after a turnover during the second half on Saturday. Wake won 71-46.

Associated Press

By Adam Smith, Halifax Media Group

Published: Saturday, February 9, 2013 at 05:29 PM.

WINSTON-SALEM – Jeff Bzdelik sounded as if he had channeled his own inner self-help guru after Wake Forest whipped Florida State 71-46 on Saturday afternoon at Joel Coliseum.

“All we talked about was our pride, our confidence, our will, our desire,” the coach said. “You can do this. You have it within you to do this. You will do this.”

Stinging from four straight losses – with the most recent two devolving into blowouts by a total of 51 points – the Demon Deacons indeed re-centered themselves by routing the disconnected Seminoles and piecing together what became their most lopsided victory of the season.

Wake Forest dominated the backboards, snatching a plus-20 rebounding advantage (45-25), forced 17 turnovers (resulting in 12 steals for the Demon Deacons) and ultimately held an ACC opponent to fewer than 50 points for the first time in nearly eight years (since February 2005).

As for Florida State, well, here’s coach Leonard Hamilton’s of what went properly for his team: “We put our uniforms on right. That’s about where it stopped.”

The Demon Deacons led 49-36 with 11½ minutes remaining when Florida State essentially entered blackout mode, producing only one field goal and three points during the next nine minutes, a freefall that bottomed out at 25-percent shooting from the field (6-for-24) in the second half.

“Defensively, we were everywhere, diving on the floor, grabbing rebounds,” Harris said.

“So we had to give a gut check. And I think we just looked ourselves in the mirror.”

Whether they saw a Jekyll-and-Hyde reflection went unasked.

Wake Forest continued its startling home-and-road contrast, improving to 9-3 at Joel Coliseum. Away from here, as McKie said, the Demon Deacons “have played so bad on the road,” losing six of seven games this season, most in overwhelming fashion.

On Saturday, Wake Forest scored seven of the game’s opening nine points, led by 11 in the first half and cemented this decisive victory in the second half with two moments that emerged as telling representations of what transpired.

After Snaer’s three-point play pulled Florida State within 52-40, McKie’s forced shot in the lane was batted around until finally landing in Harris’ hands. He promptly rifled in a 3-pointer over Snaer’s outstretched arm to put Wake Forest up 15 with 7:17 left.

Later, with the Demon Deacons’ lead having swelled to 22, McKie was stuck with the shot clock almost expired and Montay Brandon glued to him on the wing near the 3-point line. McKie pump-faked Brandon of his feet, pivoted inside the arc and buried a jumper as the shot clock hit zero.

“It helps when you’re up 20,” McKie said.

“We just had it going,” said Chase Fischer, who contributed 10 points off the Wake Forest bench. “Those are huge momentum swings, because on those possessions Florida State obviously defended us pretty well for 32, 33 seconds on the shot clock.

“To hit shots like that really gives you a lot momentum to kind of bury teams in a way.”

The Seminoles, disjointed and ineffective, lacked much of a pulse on this day. Snaer and Okaro White (13 points each) combined to score 26 of the team’s 46 points.

Snaer checked out with 1:17 left, staring in the distance and muttering curses as he trudged to the end of the Florida State bench, the frustration burning off of him.

And what followed when Hamilton, a Gastonia native, met reporters in the post-game were delicious sound bites.

“If I was in Wake Forest’s shoes, I would’ve been disappointed that our team didn't give them more of an effort, a challenge that would’ve helped them improve,” he said. “All the progress we’ve made with our program in the last six or seven years, we seemed to take a step back (Saturday) with our execution and our effort out there.

“I look at the stats, even though the stats are not very good from my standpoint, I think we probably played worse than the stats say.”

TIP-INS …: Wake Forest’s 12 steals tied its highest total of the ACC season. … Wake Forest converted 13 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points. … Florida State was the opponent the last time Wake Forest allowed less than 50 points to an ACC team. That happened Feb. 12, 2005 in an 87-48 blowout for the Demon Deacons.

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WINSTON-SALEM – Jeff Bzdelik sounded as if he had channeled his own inner self-help guru after Wake Forest whipped Florida State 71-46 on Saturday afternoon at Joel Coliseum.

“All we talked about was our pride, our confidence, our will, our desire,” the coach said. “You can do this. You have it within you to do this. You will do this.”

Stinging from four straight losses – with the most recent two devolving into blowouts by a total of 51 points – the Demon Deacons indeed re-centered themselves by routing the disconnected Seminoles and piecing together what became their most lopsided victory of the season.

Wake Forest dominated the backboards, snatching a plus-20 rebounding advantage (45-25), forced 17 turnovers (resulting in 12 steals for the Demon Deacons) and ultimately held an ACC opponent to fewer than 50 points for the first time in nearly eight years (since February 2005).

As for Florida State, well, here’s coach Leonard Hamilton’s of what went properly for his team: “We put our uniforms on right. That’s about where it stopped.”

The Demon Deacons led 49-36 with 11½ minutes remaining when Florida State essentially entered blackout mode, producing only one field goal and three points during the next nine minutes, a freefall that bottomed out at 25-percent shooting from the field (6-for-24) in the second half.

“Defensively, we were everywhere, diving on the floor, grabbing rebounds,” Harris said.

“So we had to give a gut check. And I think we just looked ourselves in the mirror.”

Whether they saw a Jekyll-and-Hyde reflection went unasked.

Wake Forest continued its startling home-and-road contrast, improving to 9-3 at Joel Coliseum. Away from here, as McKie said, the Demon Deacons “have played so bad on the road,” losing six of seven games this season, most in overwhelming fashion.

On Saturday, Wake Forest scored seven of the game’s opening nine points, led by 11 in the first half and cemented this decisive victory in the second half with two moments that emerged as telling representations of what transpired.

After Snaer’s three-point play pulled Florida State within 52-40, McKie’s forced shot in the lane was batted around until finally landing in Harris’ hands. He promptly rifled in a 3-pointer over Snaer’s outstretched arm to put Wake Forest up 15 with 7:17 left.

Later, with the Demon Deacons’ lead having swelled to 22, McKie was stuck with the shot clock almost expired and Montay Brandon glued to him on the wing near the 3-point line. McKie pump-faked Brandon of his feet, pivoted inside the arc and buried a jumper as the shot clock hit zero.

“It helps when you’re up 20,” McKie said.

“We just had it going,” said Chase Fischer, who contributed 10 points off the Wake Forest bench. “Those are huge momentum swings, because on those possessions Florida State obviously defended us pretty well for 32, 33 seconds on the shot clock.

“To hit shots like that really gives you a lot momentum to kind of bury teams in a way.”

The Seminoles, disjointed and ineffective, lacked much of a pulse on this day. Snaer and Okaro White (13 points each) combined to score 26 of the team’s 46 points.

Snaer checked out with 1:17 left, staring in the distance and muttering curses as he trudged to the end of the Florida State bench, the frustration burning off of him.

And what followed when Hamilton, a Gastonia native, met reporters in the post-game were delicious sound bites.

“If I was in Wake Forest’s shoes, I would’ve been disappointed that our team didn't give them more of an effort, a challenge that would’ve helped them improve,” he said. “All the progress we’ve made with our program in the last six or seven years, we seemed to take a step back (Saturday) with our execution and our effort out there.

“I look at the stats, even though the stats are not very good from my standpoint, I think we probably played worse than the stats say.”

TIP-INS …: Wake Forest’s 12 steals tied its highest total of the ACC season. … Wake Forest converted 13 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points. … Florida State was the opponent the last time Wake Forest allowed less than 50 points to an ACC team. That happened Feb. 12, 2005 in an 87-48 blowout for the Demon Deacons.